The Brooklyn Nets have been a disaster this season, while they started off on a respectable 13-10 start, since then they have been 4-17. Over the last 13 games, since benching their leading scorer Cam Thomas, the Brooklyn Nets have been 2-11. The argument for benching Cam Thomas was that the starting unit of Dinwiddie-Bridges-Johnson-DFS-Claxton had a positive net rating and would lead to winning more games, however over the last month since sending Thomas to the bench, the Nets have been one of the worst teams in basketball. In their last 13 games, the Nets have the 27th best offensive rating in the NBA and the 10th best defensive rating. While the defense has improved, the reason is more so the Nets reverting back to their switching defensive scheme, which has improved the defense of Nic Claxton, Mikal Bridges, & Dorian Finney-Smith.
While many fans do not want to admit it, scoring and offensive shot creation is the most valuable skill in the NBA, despite playing less than 30 minutes per game, Thomas is still averaging 20+ ppg, the only other player this season that is averaging 20+ ppg in less than 30 minutes per game is generational talent Victor Wembenyama.
When Cam Thomas was in the starting lineup, the Nets were 10-10, there is no logical reason to justify not starting Cam Thomas at this point during the season. Several fans have argued that Spencer Dinwiddie should come off the bench in favor of Cam Thomas, and while I do not disagree with that statement, one could make the argument that Cam Johnson should be benched instead.
Defensively, despite changing the scheme, Johnson’s defensive impact has not been present during games, he provides no physicality and is often getting blown by on defense. Against the Clippers during the 4th quarter collapse, Kawhi Leonard scored 6 points on 3-3 FG against Johnson whereas Dorian Finney-Smith held Kawhi Leonard to 3 points on 1-4 FG. Offensively, while Johnson’s boxscore looks respectable, in the 4th quarter, he completely falls apart. Johnson in the 4th quarter this season is averaging 2.9 points on 46% TS and defensively he does not provide much resistance.
One can make the argument that he would be better in a reduced role, instead of playing him next to Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas, Johnson could flourish in a bench role where he can focus on scoring without having to take away shots from Bridges & Thomas. While the sample is small, in the 94 minutes this season where Cam Johnson has played without Cam Thomas and Mikal Bridges on the court, the Nets have scored an impressive 221 points on 57.3% TS. When Johnson is playing without Bridges & Thomas, the Nets average 2.35 points per minute. Now, context is required, the sample size is small, it’s unknown who the other players were in the lineups alongside Johnson, and the quality of teams being faced. However, it is not unreasonable to consider that Johnson playing next to Bridges & Thomas has forced him to take a lesser role on offense. Compared to last season Johnson averaged 16.6 points in his 25 games with the Nets after the trade deadline, this season he's averaging 13.8 points in 36 games.
The Nets have been awful and in order for the team to be good again, there needs to be multiple changes, however Johnson coming off the bench instead of Thomas could be one of those changes.
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